“It is always the first thing to be cut.” How often have you heard that? HR professionals seem to universally agree that, whenever times are tough or things get difficult, training is the first casualty in a war to reduce costs. Yet management would not be so willing to eliminate training if they knew it provided a worthwhile return on investment.
So why don’t they know?
It is time for the HR profession to stop passively accepting this management mind set as “a fact of life”; consider the unthinkable and ask whether this might actually be their fault. If nothing else, moving beyond the “unfeeling management doesn’t understand” rationalisation for things should be a catalyst for progress. After all, if management holds the power and is focused exclusively on the bottom line, the way to prevent reflex training cuts is to convince them such cuts negatively impact their results.
And the only way to do this is to deliver a Return on Training (ROT) that stops them in their tracks and compels them to reconsider. You have to increase the ROT.
You may think this is easier said than done. But perhaps the one thing in your favour as you try is the generally low starting point. The problem wouldn’t be so big if ROT was being measured effectively to start with.
I am sure you have been on training courses in your career that you felt were:-
- A wonderful opportunity to be out of the office and the daily routine;
- A reward for work well done;
- A punishment for not doing well or just something you had to endure;
- Unnecessary or you had no idea even of why you were on it;
- Good but you have forgotten everything you learned;
- Great but you were unable/not allowed to apply anything you learned;
- Spoiled because other delegates did not participate or were disruptive;
- A totally lousy course that was of no benefit whatsoever.
Now ask yourself: “How much of this was I able to feedback?” “How much cognizance was taken of my feedback?” Let’s face it, most feedback is obtained:
- Immediately before the class is dismissed, when you are likely to be most positive;
- Using a 1-5 or 1-10 scale that is entirely arbitrary and subjective;
- Before you have had any chance to apply what you have learned and judge its effectiveness.
There is no real effort to properly evaluate the effectiveness of training, let alone measure any return on the training investment. Yet any business, whether for profit or not, should expect to get a benefit greater than the cost for any expense. Training should not be an exception. Yet it does seem to be.
Viewing training as an investment seems to be the exception rather than the rule. Given this and the fact that UK businesses alone are estimated to spend over £50 billion a year on training, it is no wonder that management is so ready to ditch it. It could not be otherwise. That is why the time has come to measure and increase the ROT.
In my next blog I will tell you how you can do so.
Bay is the founder and director of Zealise, a company created to help larger small to large business organisations to properly value their people and thereby inspire them to optimise their self-worth and so engage them that they transform organisational performance and bottom-line results. Bay is also the author of several books, including “Lean Organisations Need FAT People” and “The 7 Deadly Toxins of Employee Engagement.”